Centralization of Prehospital Triage Improves Triage of Pediatric Trauma Patients.

Introduction: This study describes the experience at a level 1 pediatric trauma center before and after the centralization of prehospital trauma triage, focusing on the rate of undertriage of trauma patients. Before centralization, emergency physicians were responsible for triaging these patients with mainly physiology-based criteria; after centralization, paramedics in a communication center performed this function using the same criteria.

Methods: This retrospective study includes 10 years of pediatric trauma registry patients at our institution, 5 years before and after centralization of prehospital triage.

Evaluation for intra-abdominal injury in children after blunt torso trauma: can we reduce unnecessary abdominal computed tomography by utilizing a clinical prediction model?

Background: Blunt trauma is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Despite the potential for malignancy, increased cost, limited small bowel injury detection sensitivity, and the low incidence of injury requiring operative intervention, the use of computed tomographic (CT) scan in pediatric blunt trauma evaluation remains common. Previous studies suggest that a clinical model using examination and laboratory data may help predict intra-abdominal injuries (IAIs) and potentially limit unnecessary CT scans in children.

Cornual ectopic pregnancy in a female with initial negative ultrasound.

Cornual pregnancies are a rare form of ectopic pregnancy that can be misdiagnosed as an intrauterine pregnancy via ultrasound. We report a 16-year-old adolescent girl with a cornual ectopic pregnancy and subsequent rupture in the emergency department.